07
2017
3 Networking Yes-Yes’s and 3 Oh-No’s
Although not a necessity, most wedding industry businesses can benefit hugely from a good relationship building plan. One of the first steps in any relationship building plan is meeting people, and one of the best ways to do that is through networking. Having said that, I, like many of you, don’t always love networking, and often hate the stereotypical networking! Yet, when done right, networking can increase awareness...
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03
2017
6 Keys to Unlocking a Better Business
Over the past couple of years, I have presented multiple times on the 6 key areas to focus on when creating a successful wedding business – and very shortly I will be presenting a 2.0 version of this presentation at WeddingWire World DC. In this upcoming session, I will be discussing not only the importance of focusing on the 6 keys, but focusing on them in...
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31
2017
3 Tips for Discounting in the Wedding Industry
When asked if there is any wiggle room on my price, I am quick to respond that I don’t negotiate or discount my wedding officiant services, and for the most part that is true – the only discount that I do offer is to active-duty military. Otherwise, I charge the same amount for a full ceremony (or for an elopement, which is a separate price, not...
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25
2017
Happiness Based Pricing
My last blog post, although not very exciting, was a necessary discussion in regards to the why and how of calculating your time cost so that you can price your services accordingly. Not pulse-raising, but a very important topic, because in the service industry of weddings, your time is one of the biggest “costs” to your business, and it is your most precious resource, because,...
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22
2017Are You Charging Enough For Your Time?
One of the biggest costs within any business is the cost of labor – and for most in the wedding industry, a large percentage, if not all, of the labor cost in your business, is your labor. Thus, it is important for you, and your business, to not only understand what you are doing for your couples, but how much time you are spending doing it. ...
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28
2017
4 Things You Need to Consider When Starting a Wedding Business
When starting any business, there are business things you need to consider and then there are industry things you need to consider. Of course, many times the industry things drive the business things, so I thought that maybe I should list what I consider 4 very important industry things that, although not specific just to wedding businesses, are very critical to your success in the wedding...
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21
2017Thinking Outside the Box – Point/Counter-Point
If you have been in the business world for more than 10 minutes, you have probably heard the phrase, “think outside the box.” And when you heard it, it probably was in the context of how your business will be, or what you do for someone else’s business will be, more successful if instead of thinking like everyone else and doing what has been done...
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18
2017
Is the customer – or in our case, the couple – always right?
This year I am talking a lot about the customer journey, which starts the moment a couple finds your business, and how the journey you have them take not only affects whether a couple books you but how, if done right, the journey improves the couple’s entire experience with you and thus improves their overall impression of your business. So, looking at the importance of a...
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15
2017Inquiry to Meeting to Booking – What are Your Numbers?
When looking at the success of your marketing efforts as a wedding professional, you need to always be looking at three different but related and important statistics: inquiry numbers vs. meeting numbers vs. booking numbers. As you can probably figure out, your inquiry number is the number of couples who inquire with you about your services. Your meeting number is the number of couples who have an...
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30
2017Just Say No to Money? WTF?
One of the toughest things in business is to turn away money, yet, it is something that we as business owners need to be prepared to do, especially in such a personal business as weddings. How many times have you left a meeting with a couple saying to yourself, that couple is whack (or something similar), yet you send the couple a contract and you let them...
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